Journal guide means for railway car journal boxes



Aug. 20, 1968 JOURNAL GUIDE MEANS FOR RAILWAY CAR JOURNAL BOXES T. J. SWEGER Filed March 18, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 20, 1968 T. J. SWEGER 3,397,930

JOURNAL GUIDE MEANS FOR RAILWAY CAR JOURNAL BOXES Filed March 18, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 65 62 f r 6765 50 4756 \i9 77 00 3/ 36 7 l6 fa! 5 f 23 United States Patent 3,397,930 JOURNAL GUIDE MEANS FOR RAILWAY CAR JOURNAL BOXES Theodore J. Sweger, Naperville, IlL, assignor to Illinois Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 535,515 8 Claims. (Cl. 30841) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pair of articulated guide members is provided on each side of an axle journal in a railway car journal box with individual spring wire supports for the pairs of opposite guide members.

This invention is an improvement over the invention disclosed in US. Hasten et a1. Patent 3,244,460, issued Apr. 5, 1966.

This invention relates to journal guide means for insertion in axle containing journal boxes of railway cars and it has particular relation to journal boxes having horizontal waste retaining ribs underneath brass stop columns on its sides.

Among the objects of this invention are: To provide for simply and efliciently inserting and removing journal stops or guide members in a journal box along the opposite sides of an axle journal therein in a new and improved manner; to provide for such application and removal in a journal box having waste retaining ribs along its inner sides; to accomplish this application and removal by articulating the journal stops or guide members to the end that the inner stops or guide members can be moved along the upper surfaces of the waste retainer ribs somewhat independently of the outer stops or guide members which finally are moved into engagement with the waste retainer ribs when the outer stops or guide members are in operative positions; to provide for individually supporting the inner and outer journal stops or guide members; to limit relative movement of the journal stops or guides on each side of the axle juornal in one direction while permitting relative movement in the opposite direction.

In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view, at an enlarged scale, taken generally along the line 11 of FIG. 2 and showing by phantom lines a railway car axle in a railway car journal box having journal stops or guides on the inner sides of the side walls constructed in accordance with this invention, the journal box being shown in elevated or jacked position with respect to the car axle. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view, at a reduced scale, taken generally along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, taken generally along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the reference character designates, generally, a railway car axle which, as indicated, is shown in phantom outline. The car axle 10 has an axle journal 11 which is provided with an end collar 12. The longitudinal axis of the car axle 10 is indicated at 13 in FIG. 1. The car axle 10 is shown as having been inserted in a railway car journal box that is indicated, generally, at 14 preparatory to receiving the journal brass and wedge (not shown). The railway car journal box 14 includes a top wall 15, only a portion of which is shown, depending vertical side walls 16 and a bottom wall 17 all formed of cast ferrous metal. The bottom wall 17 has a concave inner surface 18 which extends to a concave inner end surface 19 of an end wall 20 below a lid opening 21. At the other end of the bottom wall 17 there is a vertical wall 22 which forms one wall of a dust guard "ice well 23 the other wall of which is formed by vertical Wall 24. Journal brass stop columns 25 are formed integrally with the inner sides of the depending vertical side walls 16 for the purpose of limiting the movement of the journal brass. At their lower ends the journal brass stop columns 25 have concave surfaces 26. A conventional wedge stop 27 depends from the underside of the top wall 15 adjacent the lid opening 21.

Cast integrally with the depending vertical side walls 16 are waste retaining ribs 30 which have horizontal under surfaces 31 against which the waste is caused to move on rotation of the axle journal 11 in one direction or the other. The waste retaining ribs 30 have curved upper surfaces 32.

It is desirable to limit the relative movement between the axle journal 11 and the railway car journal box 14. For this purpose a pair of articulated guide members, shown generally at 35, is mounted on each of the depending vertical side walls 16 immediately above the respective waste retaining rib 30. The reason for the articulated construction of the guide members 35 is to facilitate their application and removal to and from the railway car journal box 14 because of the presence of the waste retaining ribs 30. This is occasioned by the fact that the guide members 35 can be positioned in the railway car journal box 14 only after the axle journal 11 has been inserted therein to the position shown in the drawings. Except for right and left hand constructions, the pairs 35 of articulated guide members are identical in construction. Accordingly, a description of one pair will suffice for both.

Each pair of articulated guide members 35 includes an inner guide member 36, FIGS. 2 and 3, and an outer guide member 37. These guide members 36 and 37 are articulated and are generally of similar construction. Each will be described individually, since there are certain differences in the details of construction.

The inner guide member 36 of each pair of articulated guide members 35 includes a bearing portion 38 that may be formed of nonferrous material such as brass. The bearing portion 38 has a bearing surface 39 that is juxtaposed to the outer surface of the axle journal 11 which, in the normal running condition, is elevated with respect to its position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings such that the guide members 35 are juxtaposed to diametrically opposite sides of the axle journal 11. Each bearing portion 38 is mounted on a backing portion 40 that is formed of malleable iron and has rearwardly extending notched shoulders 41 to engage the inner side of the adjacent vertical side wall 16 while the under side is curved to conform to the curvature of the upper surface 32 of the respective waste retaining rib 30. The inner guide members 36 are individually supported at the ends of an inner generally U-shaped spring wire frame 42, the bight 43 of which is arranged, as shown in FIG. 2, to bear against the inner side of the vertical wall 22. Each end of the U-shaped spring wire frame 42 is provided with a cork screw section 44 to increase the resiliency. The cork screw section 44 terminates in a horizontal section 45 that has a down turned end 46 which extends into a vertical slot 47 that is formed in the respective backing portion 40.

The outer guide member 37 of each pair of articulated guide members 35 includes a bearing portion 48 of nonferrous material, such as brass. The bearing portion 48 has a bearing surface 49 that is aligned with the bearing surface 39 on the bearing portion 38 of the respective inner guide member 36. The bearing portion 48 is carried by a backing portion 50 of malleable iron which is provided with notched shoulders 51 that bear against the inner side of the vertical side walls 16 with their lower portions, as shown in FIG. 1, curved to conform to the curvature of the upper surface 32 of the respective waste retaining rib 30. The outer guide members 37 are mounted at the ends of an outer generally U-shaped spring Wire frame 52 the bight 53 of which is arranged to bear against the concave inner end surface 19 of the end wall when the outer guide members 37 are in the operative positions shown by full lines in FIGS. 1 and 2. The ends of the arms of the outer generally U-shaped spring wire frame 52 include horizontal sections 55 that extend through the notches in the shoulders 51 and terminate in down turned ends 56 which extend into vertical slots 57 in the backing portions 50.

The backing portions 40 and 50, FIGS. 2 and .3, have overlapping lateral extensions 60 and 61, respectively. As here shown they overlap underneath the respective journal brass stop column 25. The lateral extension 60 is provided with an opening 62 for receiving a hinge pin 63 that is cast integrally with the lateral extension 61 of the backing portion 50. The hinge pin 63, after insertion in the opening 62 of the extension 60, is headed over as indicated at 64 with the arrangement being such that the inner and outer guide members 36 and 37 can move relative to each other with the hinge pin 63 providing the means for maintaining them inseparable.

In order to hold the pairs of articulated guide members 35 in the generally horizontal positions prior to application to the railway car journal box 14 while, at the same time, permitting their application to the journal box 14 which is provided with the waste retaining ribs 30, stop means, shown generally at 65, are provided on the backing portions 40 and 50. The stop means 65 comprises a vertical flange 66 at the distal end of the lateral extension 60 and an overlying horizontal flange 67 at the distal end of the lateral extension 61. The arrangement of the vertical and horizontal flanges 66 and 67 is such that may mutually engage when the inner and outer guide members 36 and 37 of each pair of articulated guide members 35 occupy the generally horizontal aligned position shown in FIG. 2. However, they are so arranged and constructed that the outer guide members 37 can be rotated to the position shown by broken lines in FIG. 2 for the purpose of inserting the guide members 35 into the railway car journal box 14 and for removing them therefrom.

In applying the articulated guide members 35 to the railway car journal box 14 with the axle journal 11 positioned therein as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the outer generally U-shaped spring wire frame 52 is gripped by the workman and used as a handle for first inserting the U-shaped spring wire frame 42 through the lid opening 21 and passing the bight 43 below the end collar 12 and then moving it along the concave inner surface of the bottom Wall 17 to the position shown in FIG. 2. This movement is accompanied by movement of the backing portions 40 along the curved upper surfaces 32 of the waste retaining ribs and is facilitated by the movement of the outer generally U-shaped spring wire frame 52 and the outer guide members 37 to the positions shown by broken lines in FIG. 2 while the inner guide members 36 are being moved to their innermost operative positions. Finally the outer generally U-shaped spring wire frame 52 together with the outer guide member 37 is moved downwardly with the bight 53 being forced over a convex curved portion 68 of the end Wall 20 so that, in the lowermost position, the outer guide members 37 bear against the curved upper surfaces 32 of the waste retaining ribs 30. The action of the U-shaped spring wire frames 42 and 52 serves to maintain the articulated guide members against endwise movement in either direction beyond a limited extent as permitted by the resiliency thereof.

-oil seals at the inner end of the railway car journal box 14 is minimized.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In combination with a railway car journal box having spaced vertical side walls and an axle journal spaced therefrom, upper portions of said side walls having vertically extending and inwardly projecting brass stop columns, said side walls being interconnected by a bottom wall having a concave inner surface terminating at the outer end in an outer wall having a concave inner surface below a lid opening and terminating at its inner end in a vertical wall of a dust guard Well; journal guide means positioned between each side wall and the diametrically opposite sides of said axle journal, said journal guide means comprising:

a pair of articulated guide members each pair including an inner guide member positioned between the inner sides of said brass stop columns and said vertical wall of said dust guard well and an outer guide member positioned between the outer sides of said brass stop columns and said lid opening,

support means individual to said inner guide members holding them in operative position in said journal box, and

support means individual to said outer guide members holding them in operative position in said journal box,

the articulation of said inner and outer guide members permitting relative movement therebetween to facilitate application of said journal guide means to and removal from said journal box.

2. Journal guide means as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that:

the guide members of each pair are adapted to be overlapped under the respective brass stop column, and

joint means interconnect the overlapping portions of said guide members.

3. Journal guide means as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that the joint means includes a hinge pin extending from one guide member of each pair into an opening in the other guide member.

4. Journal guide means as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that stop means on the guide members of each pair prevent relative rotation thereof in one direction and permit relative rotation thereof in the opposite direction.

5. Journal guide means as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that:

one guide member of each pair includes vertical flange means extending beyond the joint means, and

the other guide member of each pair includes horizontal flange means overlying said vertical flange means whereby relative rotation of said guide members in one direction is limited and is permitted in the opposite direction.

6. Journal guide means as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that:

a generally U-shaped inner spring wire frame has its ends secured to the inner guide members and its bight is adapted to react against the bottom wall of the journal box, and

a generally U-shaped outer spring wire frame has its ends secured to the outer guide members and its bight is 'adapted to react against the outer Wall of the journal box.

7. Journal guide means as claimed in claim 6 characterized in that:

stop means on the guide members of each pair interact to hold them in endwise horizontal aligned relation when the journal guide means is supported solely by the other U-shaped spring wire frame,

said stop means being adapted to permit movement of the outer guide members upwardly relative to the inner guide members to facilitate application of said journal guide means to the journal box.

8. Journal guide means as claimed in claim 7 in com bination with a journal box having horizontal waste retaining ribs along the side walls below the journal brass stop columns characterized in that:

the journal guide members are adapted to overlie said waste retaining ribs in operative position, and on insertion of the journal guide means into said journal box, the inner U-shaped spring wire frame is moved underneath the axle journal and the inner guide members are moved along said retaining ribs While the outer guide members are inclined upwardly until the bi-ght of the outer U-shaped spring wire frame clears the lower edge of the lid opening whereupon said bight is moved downwardly along the inner surface of the outer wall of said journal box and said outer guide members are moved into juxtaposition with said waste retaining ribs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Johnson 308-40 Hasten et al 30840 Zupez et a1 30840 Foss. 

